A seasoned showman knows how to prime his audience, and Donald Trump is one of the best. Standing in the gleaming lobby of a skyscraper bearing his name, the biggest name in business held court for nearly an hour, the cameras and the crowd hanging on his every word, before finally arriving at the big reveal.

With Trump, it is always about the money. His announcement Tuesday that he would run for President of the United States, after nearly three decades of feints and false promises, was mere prelude to the business that really mattered.

For the crowd gathered at Trump Tower on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, the symbols of his status were ubiquitous. Employees sold Trump power ties, Trump polo shirts, Trump ice cream. There were Trump chocolates shaped like bricks of gold and silver, wrapped in glittering foil. Beautiful women hawked a Trump-brand cologne called “Success.” The Phantom of the Opera soundtrack echoed off gold-tinted mirrors and red marble. The emotional core of Trump’s speech was a recitation of his real-estate assets: the Gucci Store, the Bank of America building, the $15 million apartments, the lush golf courses and eponymous hotels.

See the 2016 Candidates' Campaign Launches

Sen. Ted Cruz kicked off his campaign for 2016 Republican presidential nomination at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. on March 23.

Tom Williams—CQ-Roll Call/Getty Images

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul launched his bid for the Republican nomination at the Galt House Hotel in Louisville on April 7. Supporters held signs with the slogan "Defeat the Washington Machine / Unleash the American Dream."

Amy Harris—Corbis

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced her campaign in a YouTube video posted April 12 that has been seen nearly 4.5 million times. One boy featured in the video boasted about playing a fish in a school play.

Hillary For America

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio announced his campaign for the Republican nomination during a rally at the Freedom Tower in Miami on April 13. He took a drink of water during the speech, a callback to his State of the Union response in 2013.

Wilfredo Lee—AP

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders announced his bid for the Democratic nomination across the street from the U.S. Capitol on April 30, 2015. The backdrop was unusual, since most candidates rail against Washington.

Jonathan Ernst—Reuters

Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson announced his bid for the Republican nomination at the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts May 4, 2015 in Detroit, Michigan. The launch featured a gospel choir covering Eminem's "Lose Yourself."

Bill Pugliano—Getty Images

Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina announced her campaign for the Republican nomination in a conference call on May 4, then went on "Good Morning America" to talk to George Stephanopoulos.

Lou Rocco—Getty Images

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee announced his campaign at a community college in his hometown of Hope, Ark., on May 5. Singer Tony Orlando (right) performed.

Left: Danny Johnston; Right: Matt Sullivan—Getty Images

Republican presidential candidate and former New York Governor George Pataki (C) greets supporters after formally announcing his candidacy for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination in Exeter, N.H. on May 28, 2015.

Dominick Reuter—Reuters

Former Rhode Island Sen. Lincoln Chafee announces his candidacy for the democratic presidential nomination at George Mason University in Arlington, Va. on June 3, 2015.

Former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley is joined by his wife Katie O'Malley (R) as he announces his intention to seek the Democratic presidential nomination during a speech at Federal Hill Park in Baltimore on May 30, 2015.

Jim Bourg—Reuters

Former Texas governor Rick Perry announces his candidacy for Republican presidential nominee at an event held at Addison Airport in Addison, Texas on Thursday, June 4, 2015.

Louis DeLuca—Dallas Morning News/Corbis

Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush waves on stage as he announces his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination during an event at Miami-Dade College - Kendall Campus in Miami on June 15 , 2015.

Joe Raedle—Getty Images

Donald Trump holds up his financial statement showing his net worth as he formally announces his campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination during an event at Trump Tower in New York City on June 16, 2015.

Republican presidential candidate and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie formally announces his campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination during a kickoff rally at Livingston High School in Livingston, N.J. on June 30, 2015.

Brendan McDermid—Reuters

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker greets supporters after announcing that he will seek the Republican nomination for president in Waukesha, Wis. on July 13, 2015 .

Scott Olson—Getty Images

Ohio Governor John Kasich arrives on stage to formally announce his campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination during a kickoff rally in Columbus, Ohio on July 21, 2015.

Aaron P. Bernstein—Reuters

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Trump has always known that the pageantry of a presidential campaign is a near-perfect marketing opportunity. He has been running this ruse since 1987, the first time he ruminated about replacing the permanent political class that had made America a “laughingstock.” He has gone farther this time to sell the fantasy, hiring political staff in states like Iowa and New Hampshire. But the success of the stunt will still be measured in money, not votes.

After all, there are about eight billion reasons Trump won’t be president. He was pro-choice until recently. He supported massive taxes on the ultra-rich. He has advocated tightening gun laws. He backed single-payer healthcare, a policy that conservatives abhor even more than Obamacare. His approvals are 32 points underwater in his own party, making Trump the least popular presidential candidate since at least 1980. If he wants to swap the executive boardrooms for the cornfields of Iowa, that is his business.

The fact that such a stunt can pay off is a symptom of how flawed the process has become. Trump is hardly the first enterprising businessman to recognize that the endless primary can be vehicle for personal enrichment. But in a race that rewards bluster and penalizes substance, serious candidates are likely to get Trumped. Only 10 candidates will make the stage at the first Fox News debate on Aug. 6; the remainder will be relegated to a forum earlier in the day. The CNN debate the following month will use a similar system, shunting the rest of the candidates into a second-tier debate. National polls will be the deciding metric, which means a guy with his own primetime TV show—and the name recognition that attends it—is apt to boot more legitimate candidates.

It is unlikely that the party could find a way to exclude him from the debate stage, if indeed they wanted to. “This sounds crazy, but it’s safer to just include him,” says one 2016 presidential aide. Trump is a draw; for years he’s been invited to address Republican Party fundraisers. Every four years, candidates made the trek to Trump Tower to flatter him and solicit support. “They come up to my office,” Trump boasts. “I’m meeting with three of them in the next week.”

The GOP’s approach to Trump has always been grudging tolerance, knowing his megaphone makes a good cudgel. Already he has been needling candidates like Jeb Bush. “They will never make America great again,” Trump says of his rivals. “They don’t even have a chance.”

Trump talks of the nation like another of his renovation projects, a dilapidated teardown that needs to be gutted to the studs. “The American Dream is dead,” he declares. “We don’t have victories anymore,” he says. “The U.S. has become a dumping ground for everybody else’s problems.” The crowd roared at the line.

The target of these riffs is not people like him. Trump is skilled at speaking to fearful blue-collar workers, to whom the glittering Trump brand can look like genuine luxury. “We have to get back to America being the superpower we were, and the only way we can do that is with a businessman in office. ” says Lori Burch, 55, a superintendent from Jersey City. “He’s an awesome American,” adds Nadine Steel, a 30-something sales rep at a department store in Hackensack. “I think he’s a friend of the rich, but I also think he’s a friend of the poor.”

The crowds couldn’t match the bluster. In his speech, Trump said there were “thousands” of people on hand to watch the announcement— really, it seemed more like a few hundred. Staffers handed out “Make America Great Again!” T-shirts outside the Gucci on Fifth, while others distributed Trump signs to the crowd, designed to look as if they’d been made at home. The supporters who turned out seemed positive Trump would be the next president. “I don’t think there’s anybody as strong as the Donald,” says Burch.

What would Trump do as President? “I would do various things very quickly,” he says. Crush the Islamic State. Beat China. Build a “great great wall” on the southern border and send the bill to Mexico. Is this even possible? Does it matter? Whether people are wise to the game has never made a difference to Trump, so long as the show helps the bottom line.